This is a first rate film, directed with assurance and maturity by Fernando Meirelles. Reynolds has mentioned before how I felt great ambivalence about City of God. It was a dazzling piece of filmmaking but it seemed to me that Meirelles foregrounded his skills as a director over the provocative material; the results being a film that makes a commodity spectacle out of poverty and crime. There is some of that in The Constant Gardener, but I still feel as if the filmmakers work very diligently to not get in the way of the story (even if the generic designs of Le Carre’s conspiracy thriller drag things down in its final act). I look forward to our discussion. This is a film worth talking and arguing about.

I can’t recommend this film more highly; even though my expectations had been pumped up by extravagant praise in various reviews, I still found it surprising, visually quite stunning, and a hell of a lot of fun. (And Kris sat down to watch five minutes, figuring it was among the cheesy foreign thrillers I clutter our queue with, but got sucked right in.) It’s not great, but as a first film, working on a minimal budget, it’s among the most stylish and entertaining films I’ve seen all summer.

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